Statistics and Dreamscapes: December 15th, 2010
2010-12-15– I’ll start things off with some “what is this team going to do at the deadline” conjecture. From where I’m standing, the team’s best trade chip is Boobie. He plays good defense, he’s a dead-eye shooter who knows how to get open, he can handle the ball and make some plays, and he doesn’t do dumb things. He’s also got an easy contract to live with, which you can’t really say about Andy. Every contender with an iffy point guard or no real backup should be calling to ask about this guy. Here’s the issue — when Boobie has been on the floor, the team has been mildly competitive/fairly bad. The second he steps off the floor, the team is downright abysmal. (Sessions has a promising +/- as well, but I attribute a lot of that to his garbage-time prowess.)
He’s also young, and has the aforementioned manageable contract. I don’t feel like any team would give up a lottery pick or legit long-term asset for Boobie, but he’ll definitely draw interest and give the front office a chance to blow the thing up — what do you guys think? Should the team be shopping Boobie, or should he be a part of the Cavs’ long-term plans? (Also, if we can sucker a team into giving up an actual asset for Mo, I’m absolutely on board.)
– So, the Cavs play the Heat again tomorrow! And the two teams couldn’t be going in more different directions! In their last 10 games, the Heat have outscored their opponents by 14.3 points per game. The Cavs have lost their last 10 games by an average of 16.5 points per game. That’s a difference of 30.8 points per game. I do not think this will end well, although the part of me that liked wrestling as a kid always telling me that something unexpected will happen in these kind of games. Probably not, though. Can we even call this a trap game for the Heat? It’s more of a “don’t trip over that old lady’s walker after you get done beating her” game. (By the way, the spread for this game has the Heat winning by 17.5 points — hat tip to Scott Sargent.)
– That’s all for me tonight. It sure would be a nice change of pace if the Cavs manage to win tomorrow — if not, all that happens is that they lose another game, right? At this point, that can’t be a very big deal.
To me Boobie is the player the Cavs should be most inclined to hold onto because he is the one player who could be useful throughout and after the rebuilding process. One, he is a veteran of some good teams and an emerging leader. Two he is a talented offensive player whose defense has improved tremendously. Three, he is young enough that he will still be in his prime in three or four years. Not even Andy can definitely say that. Boobie Gibson is the one player I would definitely keep.
Also, the notion that we have no assets is a little silly. If we want to take on bad salary, there’s always LeBron’s trade exception. Steven Jackson anyone?
Varejao, for my money, is the most valuable trade chip we have. A big who has quick feet, takes charges, and rebounds really well + he doesn’t kill your team with terrible shots. Lots of teams need something like him coming off the bench. ATL could use him badly.
And I should be working in Vegas because two nights ago I said the spread should be 16.5. Pretty damn close.
The thing is, we’re not getting the Clippers’ lottery pick for Boobie. The focus should be moving Mo, Jamison, Parker, Moon, and possibly Hickson for quality swingmen and centers. We may have to package someone with them to move them and clear room (we also have some expiring contracts in Parker, Moon, and Jawad). There should be a three tier goal: #1 acquire young, talented players at every position except PF (the only position we’re deep at – though I’d give I’d take young 4s if we gave up Hickson), #2 dump salary (Jamison and Williams fire sale), #3 acquire… Read more »
This is a great discussion.
We got to keep Gibson. He wants the responsibility. That says worlds about him.
What I’d love to know about is this 14.5 million dollar trade exception we got in the summer. I’ve tried to find articles explaining what it exactly means and how it is used, but have come up empty, or have failed to understand its value. Can anyone out there explain it? Like through an example?
Since we only have until next July to use it, it must be on the front of GM Grant’s mind at the moment.
I mean as much as I like Boobie, you’d probably trade him if you could get the Clippers’ lottery pick somehow, no?
If we’re really going to proceed with a fire sale, I think it’s most important to try and get extra first round picks, and either or both of the following: 1. A true 7-footer 2. A legitimate point guard Centers are the scarcest assets in the NBA. Take a look at some of the journeymen and actual scrubs that are suiting up and starting for contenders. If we could find a way to get a durable, mobile young big man who can score points, rebound and control the paint, he would be a fixture in the lineup for years to… Read more »
I don’t mind trading any player if it will make us better. I’d also like to trade players for players with talent versus players with potential. I’ve said it several times, we have players like JJ, Manny, Samuels and Eyenga who all have great ‘potential’ but yet to pan out. I’d rather see us trade draft picks and players for someone like an Iggy or Mayo or other ‘proeven’ asset. I don’t mind trading Jamison or a Mo to a contender as part of a salary dump, but it really depends more on timing than anything else. We already have… Read more »
There isnt any point to ship out someone like Boobie. He is THE fan favorite and has a proven skill set. All of the reasons that he is our biggest tradable asset plus his love for playing here make him un-tradable. As for the market for bigs, look to NY depending on how they are towards the deadline. They would absolutely trade for one of our bigs who fit their system (Varejao/Jamison) No one would mind getting a gallinari and eddy curry. Mo will be harder to move than everyone thinks he will be, not much market for a short… Read more »
Unless we’re getting high draft picks back there’s little point shipping out the talent we have.
I don’t really want to part with Gibson. I doubt what we get in turn would be worth anything, and I’d rather just keep a fan favorite. That’s my two cents.
John, I understand the instinct to automatically move any tradeable asset on this team and completely rebuild through the draft yet I feel like there are a few things to consider when debatng whether to shop Gibson, Andy, or even (shudder) Sessions. The first thing to look at is obvously age. All three of them are players who have yet to hit their athletic prime which typically seems to occur around the age of 28 followed by a 3-5 year peroid of peak performance. If we are on a three year rebuilding plan then boobie and sessions would be enterng… Read more »
I can’t see how we’re going to move AJ. It would have to be a contender and all contenders seem pretty sorted for stretch 4 types. Mo’s lack of D also makes him rather undesirable.
We’re going to have to ship out a decent piece, an AV or a Gibson, if we want to rebuild. Otherwise we’re going to be stuck with this roster until we win out in the lottery one day.
Gibson is actually the player I’d least like to part with, for the reason you enumerated as well as some others. His skills– proven three point stroke, ability to handle the ball a little bit and play D– are pretty rare, and he is a proven vet. Pretty much this precise skill set is what we went looking for when we signed Damon Jones in 2005. Now, the fact that Jones actually possessed none of these skills is neither here nor there. But we compensated DJ pretty handsomely and gave him a multiyear deal for claiming to have these abilities.… Read more »
Heat could use another PG that can shoot…
I for one don’t want to see us trade Gibson. For all the reasons you just mentioned, including the most important: “he’s young”. The next most important is that he’s shown that when there is a hole in a part of his game, he fixes it. Both very necessary attributes for a player on a rebuilding team. I guess the question is could we get someone *younger* and *better* in return for him? I doubt that… I think the most obvious move is to try and move Jamison, Mo, and Andy. I hate to see Andy go, but as much… Read more »